Bascule-bridge.



PATENTED JUNE 26, 1906.

R. B. NEWTON. BASOULE BRIDGE. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 5. 1904.

d/lw/Zv; INVENTOR i To all whom it mayconcei-m v UNITED STATES PA ENT.'QFFICE.

' RALPH E. NEWTON, or MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin Be it known that I, RALPH E.NEWTON, a citizen of the United States, residin at Milwaukee, inthecounty of Milwau cc and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Bascule-.-

' l; Bridges; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertain'g'jto make and use the same.

This invention is a bridge, and the 1m rovements relate particularly todrawbri ges of the vertically-tilting lift or bascule type.

The objects of my inventionare, first, to soarrange the joint or hingeby which the tilting draw-span is connected to the fixed approach of thebridge that the live ormoving loads produced by traflic over thedraw-span will be supported independentl' of the pivotshaft, therebydpermitting the s aft and bear.-

ings to be ma e much lighter and at less expense than i bridges wherethe duty of the shaft is not only to support the weight of the basculewhile tilting, but also to support the weight of traffic over thebridge; second, to

make as short as possible the cantaliver or overhanging span of thebascule, being that Inner engaging end of thebascule.

portion of the bascule which projects over the channel as a cantaliver;third, to utilize the dead-Weight of the approach-s an in resisting theupward reaction caused y the in; n'er engaging end of the bascule;'fourth, to'

utilize the leverage of the approach-s anin resisting the upwardreaction caused y the An additional advantage attained by my improvedconstruction is that the vertical ressure dueito the combined weight ofthe ascule and approach-span upon the outer abutments or supportin-piers is received,

upon the central plane 0 said abutments or iers. I

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of thebridge,'showing one bascule with its approach-span. Fig. 2 is a modifiedform, showing the supporting-pier arranged under the pivot-line of thebascule.

It is evident that the bridge may consist of eitherone bascule, as shownin the drawings,

' or two bascules arranged so that'their pros jecting endsmeet'over thechannel, depend- I ing upon the width of the channel.

In my:improvedeconstruction the stationary portion of the structure,known as the,

approach A, is made to extend out to the Specification of LettersPatent. lpplle ation filed November 6, 1904. Serial No. 231,696-

t .BASCULE-BRIDGE- Patented Junei26 1906:

edge of the channel and is cut away, as shown,

to receive the rear' end of the bascule, a porin advance 0 the pier. Tothis stationary portion, at or near its. outer end, is fastened a crossgirder, beam,-or truss B, extending approximately parallel to thechannel or apslightly above the level of the cut-away ortion to form aprojection or rest.g,-The as cule C is supported by meansiof its. fixedpivot-shaft or trunnion P upon the approach:

' spam At the rear of pivot P and secured to e approach-span A is asimilar cross girder,-

t beam, or truss D, thebottom of which engages 'therearwardly-projecting end or nose O of the bascule, which is adapted to,take under and rest against the abutment, beam, or girder D.

tion of the ap roach extending some distance proximately at right anglesto the direction: of the crossing formed by the bridge and The basculewhen in its horizontal position rests upon the support B in front of thepivot P, and its rear en port D, the supports B and D thereby takingthe, reactions caused by both the weight of the bascule andthe wei ht'ofthe live load due to traffic over the bri go. It will be seen that thepivot P is thus'reliev'edof strain" while the spanis closed and is onlybrought into use when'the bascule .is in a position other thanhorizontal, then being subjected onl to the weight .of the basculeitself.

. of much 'llghter material than would be ossible if the weightwerecarried by the pivot- P farther back upon the approach-span.

Another desirable feature of this construc-' engages under the sup-' eout toward theoverhanging tion'i's the adaptability'of the dead-weight Iand the'leverage of the approach-span to resist the u ward reaction ofthe inner engaging end 0 (I the bascule.

'It will be noted that by this construction on t e'approach eyond thevertical center line of t it is ossible to SIRDEON) the bascule at'apoint i I e pier and at the same time accomplish the result that thereaction on the pier i willbe always. purelyvertical, no overturn I'ingmovement acting upon -it.'

By the means above described the trunnion or trunnion-shaft is calledupon to support only the dead-weight of the bascule and itscounterweights, enabling the trunnion axle and bearings to be reduced tothe smallest possible dimensions and cost, the bearings in which thetrunnions are received being of larger diameter than the trunnions, andby supportingthe live weight, being the load due to trallic, upon theextreme end of the approach-span, as by the girder B, the actualcantaliver span of the bascule is reduced to the minimum, andconsequently the dead-weight of the bascule and its cost are minimized,further resulting in minimizing the reaction of the weightof the basculeon the approach-s an, thereby permitting its weight and cost likewise tobe reduced.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A bascule-bridge comprising a substan tially horizontalapproach-span, a bascule or tilting arm or span pivotally mounteddirectly on the approach-span near the outer end thereof, a supportcarried by said approach-span and located outside of or beyond thepivots to engage said bascule, and a stop carried by said approach-spanon that side of the pivotal point of the bascule opposite said support,the stop adapted to engage the inner or counterweighted end of saidbascule.

2. A bascule-bridge comprising an approach-span, the span comprisinglongitudinal girders, a bascule-leaf permanently pivoted on theapproachspan and between the girders near the outer ends thereof,crossgirders extending between the longitudinal girders on oppositesides of the pivotal point of the bascule, the lorward girder supportingthe downward stress ol' the basculo, a rearward extension of the basculoadapted to take under the rear girder when the basculo is in its loweredposition to relieve the pivotal point of the bascule ol' dowmvardstress. the

girders operating to entirely relieve the pivotal point of the basculeof strain, save from dead-vmight.

3. A basculebridge comprising an approachspan, a bascule-leaf pivot allysecured near one end of the approach-span front ofand behind the pivotalpoint of the supports carried by the approach-span and located inbascule, the bascule adapted to war against approach-span, said pieradapted to lie located independently of the clustered supports.

4, A bridge comprising an approacluspan,

a bascule, one end of which is pivoted adja- I cent the forward end ofthe span, a stop on rried by the s ran in rear of the pivotal point ofthe baseu e, a second stop carried by the span in front of thevotalpoint of the buscule, the bascule wlien in lowered position adaptedto engage both stops whereby the upward and downward stresses areremoved from the pivotal point of the bnscule, and means for supportingthe span.

5. In a bridge. the combination with n, span having a cutaway portion,of a bast-nlo the rear end of which is fixedly pivoted in said cut-awayportion, an approximately horizontal abutment carried by the span andprojecting over its cut-away portion and a rearwardly-extending nosecarried by the bascule and ada )ted to take under the abutment torelieve tliepivotal support of the has rule of strain.

6. A bridge com )rising a span, piers supporting the same, the spanprojecting in :ltl' Vance of the piers and being cut away at its forwardend, abascule, the rear end of which is received in the space formed bythe cutaway portion of the span, a tixed pivot passing through thebasculo and means lor supporting the bust-uh on both sides of itspivotal point and in advance of the piers lo roliove the pivot ofstrain.

in testimony \vhorvol l ullix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

Amman l1. Nnwrox, H. A. limosuiuv.

